An overview of risk in community mental health care

Management of risk in mental health nursing is a complex practice and policy issue, and has an impact on mental health policy, the law and service response. The knowledge base and awareness of all those working in situations of potential risk need to be improved, and training has a crucial role to play in developing practitioners' knowledge and skills base. How the concept of risk relates to mental health is the subject of research and evaluation, which will help develop tools to facilitate prediction and assessment. This article provides an overview of the different views of risk in community mental health services, and comments on the relevance of the legal, social, cultural and psychological aspects of risk to practitioners and users.